Divining Arrows

The Arabs sought decisions by arrows (istiqsam bil-azlam). A zalam is an arrow shaft with no feathers. There were three kinds of these arrows, and the arrows used for seeking decisions were kept with Hubal in the Kaaba ^{1 2 3}.

One kind bore "yes" and "no". They used it to seek a decision on what they wished to do, such as travel or marriage and the like: if "yes" came out, they acted on it; if "no" came out, they postponed the matter for that year and came back to it again. Another kind bore "the waters" and "the blood-money". A third bore "from you", "from others" or "attached". When they doubted a man's lineage, they took him to Hubal with a hundred camels and gave them to the keeper of the arrows. If "from you" came out, he was counted as one of them by descent (wasit). If "from others" came out, he was an ally. If "attached" came out, he kept his rank among them, with neither lineage nor alliance ^{1 3}.

The iysar, meaning the office of assigning the idols' arrows for divination, belonged to the Banu Jumah ^{4 5}. See the offices of Quraysh.

Close to the arrows is gambling with arrows (maysir), a form of gambling ⁶. The Qur'an lists the arrows with wine, gambling and the idol-stones as an abomination from Satan's handiwork (al-Ma'ida 90).